I had a college degree, but suddenly I had no car, no income and few alternatives. To keep our family going, I was forced onto welfare and relied on food stamps to keep food on the table. In the blink of an eye, my aspirations for achieving a middle-class life for my family were shattered.

Last week, the Women's Health Caucus of the Pennsylvania legislature announced the first phase of a comprehensive Agenda for Women's Health. It is a groundbreaking approach to addressing the unique health needs and concerns of women that could serve as a model for other states who seek to improve the lives of women.

It is beyond dispute that when the women of Pennsylvania do well, their families do well, their children thrive and communities prosper. That is reason enough for Pennsylvania to start climbing up from the bottom rungs of the 50 states.

Today, as we celebrate our hard-fought right to vote, let's remind women of the importance of leveraging that right to ensure full participation in electing and re-electing leaders who are committed to women's equality.

Democrats opposing Bork's nomination would have seen their votes as not just a stand against a particular judicial nominee but as a vote against the social agenda of an administration they felt was attempting to turn the page on the progress of previous decades.